The coverage by NHK on News 24 has been exceptional - it is truly awful to see such destruction occurring live - houses, car, boats, etc. all being swept away, especially seeing people running and driving for their lives.

Wonder if there's any chance of the media deciding upon a Richter measurement for this quake and sticking to it? 7.9, 8.4, 8.6, 8.8, 8.9 are all being reported... Rather idiotic seeing a station using the NHK feed which features an "8.4 earthquake" banner, and supering their own "8.8" underneath it!